


Never Give In

by Rinkafic



Series: John Loves Cam [4]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 04:27:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rinkafic/pseuds/Rinkafic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sheppard is caught and tortured by the goa'uld.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Give In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [camshaft22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/camshaft22/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Give In](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/17341) by camshaft22. 



They had tried almost every trick in the book to break him, but they didn’t realize that it was no longer possible to break John Sheppard. He was already broken. He no longer cared enough to do their bidding, to give his tormentors what they wanted.

The first time he saw the gou’ald mastermind, their man within the SGC, the one responsible for his torture, Sheppard had snorted. It figured. Landry the human had always hated him, why shouldn’t Landry the gou’ald?

He had closed his eyes and withstood everything, letting his mind go blank. Gou’ald Landry had taken to delivering the various tortures himself, becoming almost fanatical in its demands for Sheppard to beg. Beg for it to stop. Beg for mercy. Beg for death. It wanted him to beg.

But John didn’t feel he deserved the oblivion of death, or any kind of mercy. This was his karma, his just reward, his punishment for his failures. He had failed to protect Atlantis in San Francisco Harbor when the unexpected invasion came. He had failed to get back to the SGC to help hold the front there. His friends were gone, Teyla, Ronon, Rodney, Lorne, Carter; all captured or slain in the battles to try to hold Atlantis and the SGC. There was no last minute save, no Hail Mary, no miracle rescue. They lost. The gou’ald had been infiltrating and plotting for years and they had finally won.

~*~

 

John was dragged down a corridor by two former marines, now turned snakehead. He was shoved through a door and landed at Gou’ald Landry’s feet. He pushed himself up to his knees and smirked. “Hi. How’s it going?”

“Very well. I have you on your knees; it is a good starting place.”

“Not gonna beg,” John said in a sing-song voice that he knew annoyed the gou’ald.

Gou’ald Landry smiled. That was new. John dropped the smirk and stared, waiting to see what this new game was to be.

“I believe I am through wasting time on my previous course of action. I think I’ll just kill you outright today.” Gou’ald Landry raised a splayed hand, aiming the jeweled weapon device he wore at John’s forehead. John squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation and felt relieved that it was over. “But do tell me something before you die, as I am curious. Why? Why were you able to hold out when so many others could not?”

John opened one eye and then the other to see Landry looking truly puzzled, the hand with the weapon now lowered. He shrugged and looked away, seeing no point to lying; he had poked this pony as much as it was going to take, this was done. “Go ahead, kill me. You already killed the people I care about. It was only a matter of time until you got around to me. I just don’t care anymore.”

Gou’ald Landry laughed in that spooky, deep, alien voice. “I suspected that might be the case. I’ve read your files, all your files, official, non-official, psychological profiles. Frankly, I despaired of ever finding a way to break you.”

The hand with the weapon came out and John felt the cold touch of the metal brush against his face as Gou’ald Landry cupped his cheek and forced him to look up. There was triumph there in the golden eyes. “You will beg, John Sheppard. You will beg to serve me.”

A former marine pushed forward a glass tank in which a gou’ald floated, suspended within the fluid. “He is meant for you, John Sheppard. You will host my heir, you will help usher in a new era of power for our empire.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. Just shoot me with your gadget hand there and save us both a lot of trouble.”

The doors behind John swished open and Gou’ald Landry smiled that freakish smile again. “I think I found your weakness, John Sheppard. And you will beg me.”

“John!”

He instinctively turned towards the voice and his jaw dropped at the sight of a ragged and chained Cam Mitchell being dragged into the room. He shook his head in denial. Cam was dead. He was one of the first to fall, Vala had reported in. “This has to be a trick,” John said as he turned away from Cam and glared at Gou’ald Landry.

“No trick. We found him hiding with the Jaffa. Now John, I offer you a choice. Beg me to stop this. Beg me for the life of Cameron Mitchell. Beg me to allow you to host my heir. Beg me not to choose him as the host.”

This was bad. This was all kinds of bad. Emotions long dead came rushing to life once more as John looked over and saw Cam watching him, his eyes pleading with him to stay silent. He couldn’t beg for himself, but he could beg for Mitchell.

“Please. Please don’t do this. Please, he’d rather die. We’d both rather die. But if it has to be one of us, take me and spare him.”

Cam was shaking his head in denial, his eyes wide, his voice shaky as he called out, “No John. No!”

“I knew you would see things my way, Sheppard. This is what I have been waiting for.” He gave a sigh of almost sexual satisfaction as he looked down into John’s face. Gou’ald Landry gestured towards the juvenile gou’ald. “Bring him.”

Mitchell was screaming his head off in the background as John’s head was forced forward and the neck of his t-shirt torn aside by a former marine. Gou’ald Landry laughed and said slickly, “I won’t lie to you, this shall hurt. Beg me for an anesthetic?”

“Shove it, Landry.”

The room was quite suddenly shaken by an explosion. The door and much of the wall around it exploded inwards, spraying debris all over the place. There was a clink of smoke bombs hitting the floor and soon John couldn’t see a thing, his eyes tearing up at the smoke. He could hear though, and Gou’ald Landry was exceedingly pissed off. He took satisfaction in that, and even more when Gou’ald Landry’s voice was suddenly cut off mid rant.

Strong hands slipped under his armpits and dragged him upwards. He started to struggle, but then he felt the familiar press of Cameron’s lips against his ear. “Chill. I got this.” The bindings holding John’s hands behind his back fell away.

“Landry?”

“Very dead,” Cam assured him.

He was dragged stumbling through the smoke and other hands grabbed at him and pulled him clear of the debris. He found himself hauled up against Ronon’s chest and hugged quickly and fiercely before he was set on his feet again. “Gate Room,” Ronon grumbled.

Coughing and blinking, John reached out and grabbed Ronon’s belt, letting the Satedan lead him to a stairwell. He smiled as he saw faces he thought lost; Cadman, Stackhouse, Lorne. Lorne gave him a smirk and a two-fingered salute as he passed John and bounded down the next flight of stairs.

They all wore goggles and were heavily armed. At each level, they were joined by more people, presumably all also heading for the Gate Room. When they got there, John grabbed Teyla and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her hair and holding on to one of the dear ones he had thought gone forever.

“Are we all here?” Mitchell shouted as he caught up with them, his chains gone and a pair of goggles pushed up on top of his head. John recognized two of the marines he thought had been gou’ald-ified following at Cam’s heels; they had been the ones that had escorted Cam into the room upstairs.

Rodney’s voice came over the intercom and John looked up to see him standing in the control room. It was odd not to see Harriman there. He waved to Rodney, and got a smile and wave in return. “We’re just waiting for Vala and Teal’c, they were trying to get to Carter.”

“We’re here! We knew the schedule!” Vala called as she Teal’c and Sam hobbled into the Gate Room.

“Dial it, McKay!” Mitchell called. He sidled over to John and pulled him into a one-armed hug. “We’re going to talk, later. You almost spoiled my plan, you damned noble idiot.”

“Love you too, Mitchell, Love you too.”

For the first time ever in public, with a room full of witnesses, John Sheppard kissed Cameron Mitchell.

The End


End file.
